


Danger Prone

by ResidentAnchor



Series: Short Stories and Prompts [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Civilian!Patton, Hero!Logan, Hero!Roman, M/M, Mind Control, Oneshot, Pining Moxiety, Remy is a manipulative dick, Villain!Remy, brief mention of past roman/remy, hero!virgil, romantic moxiety, superhero au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-20
Updated: 2019-06-20
Packaged: 2020-05-15 15:22:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19298449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ResidentAnchor/pseuds/ResidentAnchor
Summary: Patton was a normal civilian that just always seemed to find danger in his superhero/villain infested city with ease. Enough times that Stormy Knight, part of the Super Hero Trio most famous in his city, starts to notice him. And checking up on this civilian just once wouldn't hurt...





	Danger Prone

**Author's Note:**

> I was given this prompt: Yes, hello, I would like to order one Moxiety angst ficlet if I could? Yes, thank you. Oh, if I could have extra self-sacrifice with a hint of life or death, that’d be great. And perhaps maybe a bit of mind control, if possible. Make it hurt. Choose your victim.
> 
> So have fun

Patton wasn't special. He wasn't a reporter or some scientist. He had a mundane job and a simple life. The only impressive skill or talent he ever had was the fact that he could always find trouble without looking for it.

In all world where people had powers, Patton often wondered if his power would be called 'damsel in distress'. Not that he had any powers mind you. He's simply could find himself in danger so easily that he begins to question if it was a possibility.

it wasn't. There was a way to test for these kinds of things and Patton had failed them all at a young age. So, to the world, Patton Morales was as plain as everyone else. Not remarkable, not different, not special.

Patton’s best friend would disagree. Well, Patton saw him as his best friend! Maybe just a regular friend? Acquaintances, then. Whatever they were, Stormy Knight was a hero straight out of Patton’s dreams, sometimes literally. It was a moment of pure luck, and the good kind this time! When Stormy Knight was first starting off, his dark outfit started to scare people. They speculated that he was after something. He wasn’t a true hero--just because he dressed a little darker.

This is where Patton’s bad luck comes into play. He was walking home as one does and got a bit lost. He asked the wrong person for help and now they were trying to ‘charge’ him for directions… by handing over his wallet. He just had one of those faces, he guessed. Of course, Patton always tried to fight it, but when it came to these sorts of things, he knew there was no use.

That’s when Stormy Knight made an appearance. Dropped down from the sky and landed in a rather epic pose before slowly standing up and telling the jerks to just walk away. After a bit of intimidating, no normal person would dare threaten a super without reason, so they left and Patton got to keep his wallet for another day, at least. Thank goodness, the cat wallet was one thing he treasured dearly. It was just so cute!

He watched Stormy Knight closely as he thanked him. He was new, Patton hadn’t seen him before, but the all black clothing didn’t strike him as ‘hero material’. (Don’t worry, Stormy didn’t get the joke at first either.)

Patton offhandedly mentioned keeping the aesthetic doesn’t mean you can’t add color. Blues, purples, even a little white as an accent color… they could help him seem a bit brighter and less ‘villainous’. People loved to judge based on looks, after all.

The first time Patton saw Stormy in the news, his outfit was completely different. There wasn’t much black at all! He had swapped it all out for a blue and purple storm cloud pattern with a bit of leather armor, white accents all around. Patton’s heart thudded happily as he smiled. Maybe if he ever saw Stormy Knight again, he’d tell him he approved.

\---

Patton Morales had incredibly bad luck. Because he did run into Stormy Knight again. An average day in a city slowly growing with supers, Patton wasn’t even supposed to be at the bank. It wasn’t even his bank! He was simply there for work, but of course, it was being robbed. Or, at least, attempting to be. A newer villain making an attempt at something bigger, quickly thwarted when Stormy Knight snuck in. There was another hero as well--a former Villain in a prince costume who made a wonderful distraction for Stormy to sneak in and get everyone out. He paused when he saw Patton and smirked for a moment before moving along to the next poor civilian that was trapped inside.

They didn’t get to talk after, but Patton made sure to wave to him and that he saw before disappearing.

The third time, Stormy was beginning to worry about this poor civilian. He was stuck on a highway in traffic. The villain he was facing was saying something about ruining everyone’s morning commutes to put them all behind schedule. It wasn’t exactly ‘evil’ and Patton began to wonder about the villains in the city. Half were easily reformed as heroes, the other half didn’t seem truly evil except for a select few. It’s strange like they thought being evil was the only choice they had until proven otherwise.

Back on topic, Patton was outside his car watching with a heavy heart as the hero and villain battled. It didn’t take much more than a few words and a swift punch before the villain surrendered, apologizing for doing something so ‘terribly rude of me, I am dreadfully sorry!’ Patton was just happy he could finally get going, though no doubt he was incredibly behind and late for work. Stormy stood there, winds around him lifting him into the air as he looked over the crowd of people. He watched and made sure everyone was okay before he started to fly off before his eyes caught Patton’s. And while Patton couldn’t prove it because he was so far away, it looked as if Stormy shook his head before flying off.

Things like this kept happening. Patton would end up in the wrong place at the wrong time. He couldn’t help it! Things like this just happened to him! But now, he was in the middle of an attack, trapped on a fire escape because there was a fire outside the door of his apartment building and he certainly wasn’t going to stay there! The building shook and Patton lost his footing, stumbling and holding onto the railing as tight as he could. He opened his eyes and watched his glasses fall, vision blurring, as he pushed away from the railing and back toward the building. He certainly didn’t want to fall with him. Glasses are replaceable!

He’s not sure what had happened, but he didn’t want to stay on the fire escape much longer. Patton slowly made an attempt to climb down before he froze as everything shook once more. The fire escape creaked and shifted and Patton shut his eyes, afraid of what was happening around him.

“Hold on!” Patton gasped as a pair of arms wrapped around him before gusts of wind forced his eyes shut. It didn’t last long before the sounds around them grew quieter and distant, the wind dying down into nothing. “You okay?”

Carefully, Patton opened his eyes and looked up, the somewhat blurry face of Stormy Knight, Lightning Bolt shaped mask and all. “It’s you!”

Stormy chuckled and smiled, amused. “Yes, and it’s _you_. You certainly get into danger a lot.” Without a word, Stormy shifted him to let him down on his feet. “I feel if I see you everywhere.”

“Just lucky, I guess.” Patton smiled back at Stormy. “I like the new look!”

The hero smiled and looked away. If Patton could see more of his face, he wondered if the hero was blushing. “Well, yeah, this wonderfully nice civilian gave some good advice. I just wish I caught his name.”

“Patton. Morales.”

Patton held out a hand which Stormy gladly took. “Nice to meet you, Patton.” He looked over Patton’s shoulder and frowned. “Looks like I have to get back to the… the thing, um.”

Patton realized he was still holding the hero’s hand before quickly letting go. “I’m sorry! Go on ahead! I should probably talk to someone about my apartment being on fire or something.”

“I’m sure Princey can help with the fire and Brainiac can fix anything so I’ll try to see if we can’t make it as good as new!”

Patton watched as Stormy flew off and back into the skirmish as best he could before sighing. He needed a new pair of glasses asap.

After that, it seemed that Patton and Stormy Knight almost found each other even more, as impossible as it seemed. Patton wouldn’t even be in danger but the hero would appear while on patrol, checking in on the ‘danger prone citizen.’ He wondered if following Patton would be easier than searching for danger himself.

Soon enough, Patton would just wait outside on that fire escape every night, wondering if the hero would stop by. Soon enough, it was almost a nightly (or Knightly!) occurrence between the two. Patton talked about life and asked Stormy about the hero life. He didn’t learn much but found out that the hero became a hero after everyone in his life believed he couldn’t be one.

_“Some call it ambition, I call it spite, but it worked.”_

He also learned that there was a core group of villains that pretty much were the cause of most crimes in the city. That’s why most villains were quick to turn over a new leaf, they were recruited by villains. Or more like blackmailed, it seemed. Stormy didn’t like it, but there wasn’t much they could do. The villains never did the dirty work themselves unless it was something big. They had been relatively quiet, so the heroes were worried they were working on something massive.

“Not much we can do unless we find them first, which doesn’t seem likely. There are no known bases and since we don’t even know what they even remotely look like, we’re at a dead end until they made a move.”

“Aww, I’m sure you’ll figure it out! And if not, I know you’ll give it your all to keep us all safe!” Patton placed a hand on the hero’s back before leaning in and giving him a brief hug. “I believe in you.”

The hero went quiet after that and Patton began to worry if he had said the wrong thing. His heart thudded loudly in his chest before the hero turned and smiled. “That means a lot to me, Patton. Thank you.”

 

The normal day to day life of Patton Morales seemed to calm down a bit. He wasn’t finding himself in danger nearly as much, thank goodness, and he wondered if being acquainted with the hero had anything to do with it. Perhaps it did, but Patton quickly found out that maybe, just maybe, it was because something bigger was coming around the corner for them both.

  
Patton had been walking home from the store one evening, a few bags in his hands. It wasn’t a long walk and Patton’s car was pretty beaten down so he didn’t like driving it outside of work. Too many hero related incidents could take a beating on anything in this city and his insurance didn’t cover much. He was almost to his apartment when he heard it.

_“Patton Morales.”_

He stopped and looked around, spinning in a quick circle a bit confused. The sun was still setting so he could see just fine, but there was no one on the street beside himself.

_“Patton Morales.”_

“Hello?” Patton looked again, unsure where the voice was coming from. “Is someone there?”

**_“Patton Morales.”_ **

Patton spun around and was face to face with someone, clouded goggles covering their face. Patton yelped and stumbled back, his bags still in his hands. He blinked and watched them smile in a way that made Patton’s skin crawl. “C-can I help you?”

“I’m so glad you asked, Patton Morales.” They reached up and pushed their goggles to rest on their head. “There is something you can help me with.”

\---

  
When Stormy Knight showed up that night, Patton was nowhere to be found. His apartment was dark and there were no traces Patton had been home in a while. He stood around for a minute, heart sinking in disappointment, before he placed his foot on the railing, ready to take off.

“Stormy Knight! Wait, down here!” The hero looked down to the street and saw someone waving their arms over their head, trying to get his attention. The hero complied and glided down to the sidewalk before landing softly. “Thank goodness you’re here! One of my tenants is missing!”

“Missing?”

The landlord raced over to a few bags that were resting against the building. “These were found on the sidewalk a while ago along with his wallet.”

The hero only had to see the familiar cat wallet to know that it belonged to Patton. Who had been taken off of the street in broad daylight without a trace. “Shit,” the hero muttered under his breath, taking the wallet carefully and looking at the ID on the inside _. Patton Morales._ “Shit!” The hero sneered and spun around, his mind in a frenzy. They left the wallet so they knew who was taken. They did it outside of his freaking apartment, this was definitely a targeted attack. “I have to go!”

The hero flew off. Actually, just like his namesake, he stormed off. He was stupid! Is that all it took? One stupid, pretty face and he grew complacent. He put Patton at risk just so he could hang out with him. Out of costume, he was a boring loser. Someone like Patton would never bother to hang out with him. _That’s not true._ Patton was such a kind person who saw the best in the worst situations. He would have liked him, liked _Virgil_ , but he was a coward. Virgil was boring. Stormy Knight was a hero with powers who protected people. Or, at least, he did. Now, he put someone at risk. Why couldn’t he just face Patton outside of the mask?!

He didn’t get far before his communicator went off. The ones that kept him in contact with his teammates. Perhaps they knew who did this?

Stormy quickly landed and pulled out his communicator. “Hey, anything new happens?”

“Why don’t you tell me, Stormy Knight?” The hero froze at the unfamiliar voice. “You left the apartment rather quickly. Find anything interesting?”

The hero grits his teeth and squeezed the communicator. “What do you want with him?”

“Him? Him who?” The hero snarled and heard the villain laugh. “Oh! You mean my new friend Patton Morales here? He’s just fine. We were having a nice, long talk. Did you know his favorite color is all of them? How adorable.”

“Just tell me who you are and what you want?”

“How about a trade, babe. You come to me and I’ll let sweet, dear Patton go free.”

It was a trap. It was so obviously a trap, he couldn’t agree or go in alone but...he couldn’t leave Patton with this unknown villain, could he? “Where and when?”

“I knew you’d see things my way. They always do.”

\---

Storage units. How plain and obvious and boring. He rented a storage unit for this exact purpose, he had to have. Or he stole one. They had checked warehouses and boardwalks and storage units early on when villains started cropping up. It was an obvious spot and unoriginal villains loved to copy what they saw. The Prince had even warned him about it. Stormy landed and found the single unit with the light on above it, all the others around it mysteriously off.

Stormy was strong and paired with his wind, he broke open the unit fairly easily. Inside, someone was tied to a chair, unconscious. There was no one else around and the small unit was empty besides that. The familiar messy mop of hair was enough for the hero to recognize Patton, even with his face hidden. He spun around and looked for the mysterious villain that had brought him there, but they were seemingly alone.

Looking back into the storage unit, the hero frowned. “Patton?” He leaned in, worried about this obvious trap. “Patton, you okay?”

“Sorry, he’s not gonna hear you like that. Why not get a little closer?” The hero spun and found a man dressed in ordinary clothes. Jeans, jacket, boots… The only thing that stuck out was the cloudy pair of goggles on his face. “So glad you could make it, though! You seem like you’ll be much more fun than the others!”

“Who are you and what do you want?” The villain tensed up, ready to fight. “What ‘others’ are you talking about?”

“Calm down, sheesh. You sound like that stupid prince.” The man grew quiet and Stormy could almost feel his eyes on him, though he couldn’t see them. “You’re the best collateral I’ve managed to get my hands on so far.”

“Collateral?” The villain motioned toward the unconscious civilian tied to the chair. “He’s not collateral! You said you’d let him go!”

“Yes, in exchange for you. I’m gonna need collateral to make sure you don’t break free.”

“Break free of what, an agreement?”

“Of sorts.” The villain reached up to his goggles with both hands before pushing them out of the way. “I’ve got a bunch of names, babe, but most call me the Sleeper.” The hero gasped and took a step back as the villain stared at him, milky white irises staring back. “I have a tendency to make sleeper agents in the worst places, you see.” He tapped the side of his head as he spoke. “I can put thoughts in your head and just wait for the right moment. This, however, I think I’m gonna enjoy. You’ll be the best one yet! Better than all those other duds that just became heroes after.”

“Heroes? Y-you mean…” Stormy Knight thought back to everyone he’s ever fought. Ever villain that quickly turned over a new leaf after defeat. Everyone that started out as a villain over being a hero. Heck, even his teammate used to be… “Like… Like Prince used to…”

“Ahh, yes. My biggest regret, that one.” The villain sighed and shrugged. “Ya see, you can break free pretty easily if you want. I’m not strong enough to keep people under for long so I just need enough leverage for you to give in. I was foolish with that Prince. Thought I had more control than I did. Just had to make him think I loved him and he was eager to do as I say. Wasn’t very good at it, I guess. He just had to rebel and become ‘good’, bleh!” Sleeper took a step closer, causing the hero to back away. “You, however… you like our little Patton, don’t you? The feelings there aren’t fake.”

“I, he’s just a danger-prone civilian!” The hero studdered and knew he wouldn’t get away with the lie.

“A civilian, yes, but a pretty one. So, here’s my deal, hero.” Sleeper pointed to him and smirked. “Either I get into your little boyfriends’ head and he thinks I’m you and he becomes _mine_ … or I get into your head and _you_ become my new plaything. I promise to leave your little disastrous civilian alone as long as you cooperate.”

The hero took a stance, ready to attack. “What makes you think I can’t just attack you right now and get it over with?”

Sleeper didn’t even flinch. Instead, he smirked and held up a hand, poised and ready to snap his fingers. “Because I’m already in his head and the only way I’ll back out is if you agree.”

This was stupid, coming alone to fight whatever villain this was. An important one, if he was the reason Prince had started out as a villain. He never spoke of those times other than someone had gotten it into his head that it was the better choice. Stormy didn’t realize he meant actually into his mind and controlled him, but that’s over and done with. The information wouldn’t have stopped him from coming to Patton’s rescue. Civilian or not, no matter the feelings, he was Patton’s friend. And a hero. And what is a hero if not someone to protect the people?

“You leave him alone. You or anyone else will not touch him. He doesn’t get hurt or kidnapped or anything after this.” The hero’s voice shook as he spoke. “He… he gets to live a normal life as if this never happened.”

“Oh, don’t worry. As long as he’s alive, we get to have you.” The villain snapped his fingers and smiled. “Come along now before he wakes up. I’ve got plans for you, Stormy Weather…”

Patton would soon wake up, tied to a chair in a dark room with the dim moonlight pouring through an opening. Soon enough, red and blue flashing lights and sirens would approach before he saw flashlights join them. A figure would stand in the entryway and call out to others. The whole night was a blur but the only thing Patton could remember was the pale eyes that stared back at him.

When he returned to his apartment building, his landlord would be relieved to see he was alright. They asked about the hero that had stopped by, saying they raced off when they heard Patton had gone missing. After taking his wallet and belongings back, Patton went straight to bed, exhausted from the night.

It wasn’t until the next day that he was determined to make it up to his friend. He wasn’t sure what had happened, but he knew that Stormy Knight had rescued him. He didn’t hear or see anything, but something in his heart had told him. He was there to visit when Patton’s landlord had told him that he had gone missing, so who else could it have been?

He baked cookies and waited eagerly on his fire escape that night, waiting for the hero to show up. He waited again the next day, and the day after that, every night for over a week with no luck. Stormy also hadn’t been seen at all in the past week. No heroic attempts made, no people saved, no patrols that people managed to snap pictures of. The hero had vanished and Patton worried that he might have gotten hurt that night he was found. Perhaps he got injured and called the cops to find and rescue him? They had said it was an anonymous tip that led them to the storage unit that he was found in.

It wasn’t until almost two weeks later that Patton grew even more worried. He stared at a T.V. screen as he watched what looked like Stormy Knight, but with an outfit that resembled his older black one. Also, he wasn’t saving anyone… he was fighting his teammates. The Prince looked distraught and Brainiac was fighting back with everything he had, but neither was a match for their former hero.

But that’s not right! He was there rescuing him from… something or someone just a week ago! They were laughing on the fire escape together after Patton made a few puns! They were friends, weren’t they? What was going on?

“Patton Morales?” Patton spun around and found himself face to face with Brainiac and the Prince. “We would like to ask you a few questions if you don’t mind.”

Patton’s boss immediately gave him the day off after they saw the two heroes lurking around. Patton followed them into a car that began to drive them to an unknown location, not a word spoken between them. Patton’s heart raced in anticipation and a bit in fear of what was going on. Eventually, the car pulled into a building and everything grew dark before the lights came back on. He wasn’t sure where they were, but it was plain and boring and, most importantly, they were alone.

“We should be good here,” Brainiac got out of the car with the Prince quickly following. Seeing powerful heroes using mundane ways to travel was strange, but Patton wasn’t one to question it. “Now, then.” Brainiac stared down the civilian with a frown. “You are the civilian that our former teammate would visit on an almost nightly basis, correct?”

“He’s still our teammate, smarty pants. I keep telling you this!” The Prince huffed and seemed distressed over the whole situation.

As they waited for an answer, Patton nodded. “Yeah, he would visit me sometimes.”

“Why?”

“Why? Why would he visit me?” Brainiac’s stiff attitude was a bit offputting. “Um, because I’m pretty danger prone. He saw me so often that he just started… checking in on me, I guess?”

“Was that your idea or his?”

“Uh, his?” Patton looked down as if he should be ashamed. “I didn’t… hate it, though. He’s good company.”

“What happened the night he went missing?” Patton perked up quickly, shocked at the news.

“W-wait. He… he went missing that night?! I thought maybe…”

The Prince sighed and shook his head, taking a step closer to the civilian. “You’re going about this all wrong. If you want answers, you have to show some empathy. Innocent until proven guilty, yeah?” He looked back at his teammate before turning and smiling at Patton. “Hello, I’m the Prince. We heard there was an incident about two weeks ago that you were involved in. Could you tell us about that?”

Patton nodded and thought back to that night. “Not much to tell. I was walking home from the store and I heard this voice. It-it was calling my name? But I didn’t see anyone around. Then I remember waking up and the police were around.”

Brainiac was growing frustrated at the story. “Was there nothing else you remember?”

Patton tried to remember that blurry night as best he could. He went to the store. The sun was still setting. The voice… Wait! Patton gasped and looked between the two heroes. “I don’t know if this helps but… I remember their face a little? Or more like their eyes? They were like a blueish white color.”

The Prince spun around and ran his hands through his hair before crying out in frustration. “I TOLD YOU! I said it was him, I knew it!”

“Why? What’s going on?”

“It seems that the Sleeper has taken our teammate and turned him into a villain.”

“Sleeper? Wait, villain?! But, but Stormy isn’t a bad guy! He’s so nice and sweet and he laughs at my puns even if he tries to deny it and he wouldn’t hurt a fly! I mean unless the fly tried robbing someone!”

The Prince turned and watched as Patton grew even more distressed before letting out a soft sigh. “Yeah, you’re definitely the guy.”

“Which is good news for us.” Brainiac approached Patton and tucked his hands behind his back. “Patton Morales, we require your help. We believe you’re the only one that can help break our friend free from the friend's firm fist of evil.”

“Alliteration, nice.” The Prince mumbled under his breath.

Patton nodded immediately. “Of course! What do I have to do?”

“Well, you said you were danger prone, correct?”

  
\---

 _‘It shouldn’t have been this easy’_ Patton thought as he strolled down the streets of the city. He always had a way with danger finding him, so that’s what he was doing. Letting what always happens… happen. They needed to find Stormy Knight, or Stormy Weather as he was being called. Patton hated the name, but then again, he hated everything about the situation. The other heroes were looking for their teammate as well but kept tabs on Patton just in case. Brainiac thought that the fact Patton always found himself in danger strange, but he couldn’t go against the pile of evidence against him.

It didn’t take more than 2 days before Patton found himself in the middle of the city, his friend terrorizing civilians and juggling cars. He called Brainiac as soon as he could and was instructed to get back and wait for their arrival.

Patton hung up and immediately apologized to the hero in his mind as he made his way closer. The villain hadn’t noticed him quite yet, his gusts of wind whipping around him like a tornado. He reached a hand toward a jewelry store and smiled as a whirlwind glittered on its way back to him.

“STORMY!” The ‘villain’ turned and spotted Patton as he tried to get closer. “Stormy! You haven’t visited in a week! I made cookies! Are you okay?”

The villain watched curiously before smiling. “I’m sorry, I think you’ve got the wrong guy.” He reached out with an arm and the winds around Patton grew more intense. “Are you trying to play games with me? Cause that’s not gonna fly!”

Patton felt the ground move out from underneath him and failed as he began to float. He cried out before looking at the hero, arms covering his face from the gusts. “Not-not gonna fly! That’s a good one, buddy!”

Stormy frowned and his hand lowered as did Patton. He was planning on launching him and seeing how far he could throw the guy, but he was laughing at his jokes? “You think that’s funny?”

“I always think you’re funny, Stormy! We make the best jokes together, like friends always do!”

Patton watched as Stormy’s eyes widened and he blinked a bit. “P-Patton?”

“Sorry I missed you two weeks ago! I only meant to step out for a minute, I promise.”

Patton had hoped that Stormy would snap out of it and they would happily be reunited. But, maybe it wasn’t as easy as he had hoped.

“Patton…” Stormy sneered. “Sorry, doesn’t sound familiar.” The gusts grew more intense than before and Patton reached out to hold onto something. A mailbox, a stop sign, anything! He found a bench that was bolted to the ground and held on, even though it was about to fly off itself. “Now get out of my way.”

“No! I’m not leaving without my best friend!”

“Then I’ll just make you leave!”

Patton felt the bench splinter into pieces and fly off, taking him with it. He fell back onto the ground and landed hard with a thud, his vision growing dark for a second. Patton wasn’t sure what had happened but he didn’t move, gasping for air. He must have gotten it knocked out of him when he landed.

“Shit, Patton!”

He opened his eyes and realized that his glasses must have fallen off again when he flew back. The blurry yet familiar face of his friend grew closer and he couldn’t help but smile. “Hey Stormy.”

“Shh, don’t talk. Don’t move! I’ll find you some help.”

“What? No, I’m fine. Are you okay?” Patton raised his hand to reach out to Stormy who simply grabbed it and held it close. “What’s wrong?”

“Gosh, Patton, I’m so sorry.”

“Its ‘kay. I forgive ya.” Patton felt more exhausted then he had expected.

“Patton, stay awake!”

“Mmm. I will.” He tried taking a deep breath that burned and caused him to wince in pain. “W-what-”

“I said don’t move! The bench kind of exploded and… and I can’t remove it, so just… Wait a minute. Help is coming!”

Patton looked confused before glancing down, a hunk of the wood from the bench sticking out of his abdomen. “Oh… wood you look at that, hah… Did you like that one, Stormy?”

The hero closed his eyes and sat for a moment before nodding. “I did. And… you can call me Virgil.”

“Virgil?” Patton smiled. “Aww, hi Virgil.”

Stormy, or Virgil, sniffled and smiled back. “Hi, Patton.”

Patton blinked a few times before shutting his eyes. “‘M sorry you got hurt cause of me.”

Virgil laughed at the irony and shook his head. “It’s fine, just stay awake, okay? Patton?”

“Stormy!” He looked up at the sound of his name and saw his teammates racing forward. “What’s going on?”

“He promised Patton wouldn’t get hurt and he did so… I’m fine. But Patton isn’t!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll try my best!” Brainiac kneeled down and pulled out a small device from his belt. “I’m just glad you’re okay, Virge.”

\---

Patton woke up to the burning ache on his side, though less of a pain than before. His body ached and screamed to move, stiff from sitting still for so long. He blinked and looked around before spotting someone peeking into the doorway cautiously. “Patton?”

  
“Stor-” Patton coughed, his throat dry and hoarse. “Stormy!”

“Shh, calm down. Emile could only heal you so far before they got tired.” Stormy walked in and sat on a chair beside the bed. “You’re at the superhero base headquarters. You remember anything?”

Patton blinked before groaning. “Yeah. I do. Wait!” He smiled and turned back to his friend. “Your name! It’s Virgil!”

Virgil chuckled and blushed a bit. “Yeah, I told you that. Do you remember anything from the surgery, though? You were pretty heavily medicated.”

Patton frowned and shook his head. “I had surgery?”

“Yeah, Emile had to remove the thing before he could heal it. So, uh…” The blush on his face grew. “You… don’t remember anything?”

“No… should I?”

“You uh… said. Some things.”

“Oh. Like… what?”

“Oh good, the lovebirds are here!” Prince marched in, smiling at the two of them. “Just catching up? Glad to see you awake Patton.”

“Oh. Yeah, hi.” Patton looked at him confused. “Do I know you?”

The Prince smacked his forehead. “Right, no mask for me and no glasses for you. I’m the Prince! Or Roman, if you prefer.”

Patton gasped. “I shouldn’t know your identity! Isn’t that bad?”

Roman’s face twisted in confusion for a moment. “Oh, right. You might not remember. You’re one of us now!” He smiled and marched in, leaning against the wall. “You have a power, Patton. You’re naturally attracted to danger. Or, well, it’s attracted to you. It’s so weak that it never came up in your life, but we did enough tests to prove it. So, to keep you save, you’re staying here with us! If you want, that is. You did say yes, but under the circumstances…”

“I am?” Patton giggled. “That makes a lot of sense.”

“Not to mention,” Roman reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “After that conversation, I don’t think you’d want to.”

“Wait!” Virgil stood up and reached out for the phone. “Princey, no!”

_“Awww lookit you without your mask! You’re so cute! Cuter than I dreamed!”_

_“P-Patton?!”_

_“Come here and let me give you a kiss, cutie!”_

_“Wait, Patton, you’re still hurt! Don’t move!”_

Roman tapped on his phone and the noise shut off. It was unmistakable. It was Patton and Virgil talking, though Patton didn’t remember.

Until now.

  
“Oh my gosh, I told you about my crush?!” Patton grabbed his blanket and buried his face. “I’m so sorry!”

“It’s, uh, it’s okay.” Virgil cleared his throat. “I don’t mind.”

“Yeah, especially since he had a crush on you, too.” Patton peaked out from his blanket and saw Virgil reach over and playfully smack Roman. “Ow! Hey! Fine, I’ll leave you two alone.”

Once the door closed, Patton watched Virgil tense up as they were left alone. “Virgil?”

“YES!” He spun around and looked at Patton. “I mean, yeah?”

“Are you okay?”

Virgil went to respond immediately before he held back. He eventually nodded. “Yeah, I am now.”

“Good! When I get better, can we go on a date?”

“WHAT?!”

“We can get dessert! I don’t think you need any, though. You’re already a _cutie pie_.”

“Oh my goodness,” Virgil let out a chuckle though he tried to hide it. “You’re certainly feeling better!” His smile slowly fell as he looked over. “Are you okay?”

Patton hummed and shut his eyes before blindly holding out his hand. Virgil slowly stepped forward and took it, causing Patton to smile wider. “Aren’t I always when you’re here?”

Tomorrow they would have to worry about Sleeper and his plans. Tomorrow they would have to make their next plan of action. Tomorrow they would have to explain Patton’s disappearance from his life.

For today, however, everything was perfect.


End file.
